The term "culture" is used to describe patterns seen uniting a group of people. These patterns can be observed in the way families interact, in the traditions and beliefs held by a group of people, as well as general everyday ways of life. The culture of the United States is fascinating due to the wide variety of people and backgrounds present.
Overall, the culture that I come from can be described as predominantly western. I believe my culture can be described as one that values freedom and equality. The United States prides itself on the fact that it is a free county where its citizens have the undeniable rights of "Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness" as it is stated in the Declaration of Independence. We are reminded of this every 4th of July when the country celebrates its independence. While there is still some discrepancy of the equality of gender and race in our country, ideally, the United States is seen as a place where everyone is treated equally which is something that is not seen all over the world. At the most basic level, everyone in our country has the same basic human rights, and legally no one is treated differently based off of skin color or gender. This has fueled a philanthropic mindset in may people including myself in that we want all people in all locations to be equal to us. Many people believe in the importance of volunteering and giving back in a way that is helpful to not only our community but to people all over the world. Our culture is also one that embraces individuality. We have grown up in a society that teaches each one of us to stand out and be unique and special in our own way. We are also taught the importance of hard work at an early age and that with hard work comes rewards. This idea has made our country very materialistic which, arguably, isn't always a good thing. However, material goods allows people to be rewarded for their work and achievements as well as expressing their individuality through the things they possess. Through hard work, our country has been seen to progress rapidly and extensively. It is very commonly seen that change not only in the county as a whole, but on the individual level of personal growth, is recognized as something very positive. It gives an optimistic approach to looking at things in a way that anything can be improved to the better and we can always continue to progress forward.
While there are undoubtedly similarities in the Ecuadorian culture to that of the United States, there are noticeable differences. For instance, Ecuador is primarily Roman Catholic which is also very common in the United States, however, a wide variety of religions including many different denominations of Christianity. Due to the presence of Catholicism in Ecuador and everything that we have been told so far like not to wear shorts, I am expecting to be visiting a very conservative society. Other than this, I don't have very many assumptions about Ecuador because I am going into this study abroad experience with a very open mind because I'm not really sure what to expect! I am a bit worried about the language barrier as I do not speak Spanish and that is the predominant language spoken.
Since I am looking to go into the health care field, I am very interested to learn about the health care system in Ecuador and compare it to that of our own country. Ecuador has a public health care system that is available for free, however it is not considered very good. About 20% of the population uses the social security health care system known as the IESS, Instituto Ecuadoriano de Seguridad Social, or in English, the Ecuadorian Social Security Institute (Lopez-Cevallos and Chi, 2009). It is commonly agreed that the best medical services can be found in Quito, Cuenca, and Guayaquil. Patients from rural areas are often times transported to larger cities for better access to health care. Unfortunately, an inequality is seen among those of different socioeconomic classes and their utilization of health care services. In 2009, it was seen that almost a third of Ecuadorian citizens did not have regular access to health services and over two thirds did not have health insurance nor the sufficient resources to pay for health services (Lopez-Cevallos and Chi, 2009). Due to these inequalities, it can be suggested that a health care reform is needed in Ecuador in order to provide more citizens with the health care services they are in need of. I hope to be able to learn more during my time in Ecuador to see how health care works in other parts of the world.
Works Cited:
Health care utilization in Ecuador: a multilevel analysis of socio-economic determinants and inequality issues: Daniel F López-Cevallos and Chunhuei Chi
http://heapol.oxfordjournals.org/content/25/3/209.long#cited-by
